


Bilateral Asymmetries

by anonymousAlchemist



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Family Dynamics, Gen, Litfic, Modern AU, the one where barry and lup are getting married and lup disappears, the one where taako is definitely not worried, the one where taakos entire social life is 2 couples
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-06 01:25:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12806556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymousAlchemist/pseuds/anonymousAlchemist
Summary: The day after his twin sister disappeared, Taako woke up and cooked breakfast.





	Bilateral Asymmetries

**Author's Note:**

> I feel obliged to explain myself. 
> 
> For various school purposes, I had to write a short story. I decided to use taz characters because I was tired and didn't feel like making new boys. Consider this a modern AU, inspired by the concept of "what if taako's entire social life was two couples, that's really funny to me for a variety of reasons," and also "what was it like after lup left?" 
> 
> it's extremely cursed. 
> 
> happy til death do us blart day, yall.

The day after his twin sister disappeared, Taako woke up and cooked breakfast. 

He was living with his best friend at the time, and his best friend’s girlfriend. His best friend was a man named Magnus, who he had known for seventeen years. Magnus wore shirts with the sleeves cut off and talked over people. He was the nicest man that Taako knew. 

“Why are you making breakfast?” Magnus said. 

“You don’t know how to cook,” Taako said. He slid a plate over to Magnus. Taako made breakfast every day when he didn’t have work. He worked at a restaurant called MIKE’S, though nobody named Mike had ever owned the restaurant, or ever would. 

“You didn’t have to,” Magnus said, pouring two cups of coffee. 

“I’m going to go over to Barry’s,” Taako said. “After breakfast.” 

Barry was Taako’s sister’s fiance. He was a biochemist. He had known Taako and Lup since they were all young, and it was no surprise that Barry had proposed to Lup, because Lup was wonderful. Taako figured that either Barry would know more about Lup disappearing, or should be notified that she was missing because Barry and Lup were supposed to be married in a month. 

Taako added sugar to his coffee. Magnus passed him the milk. 

They ate breakfast. This was something that they did together with Magnus’s girlfriend. She came into the kitchen as they were putting the dishes in the sink. 

“Have you heard from her?” she asked, as soon as she came down the stairs, rubbing awareness into her eyes. 

“No,” Taako said. 

“She hasn’t called?” 

“Leave it, Luce,” Magnus said. “She’s a grownup.” 

“She’s maybe missing,” Luce said, very reasonably. Taako liked Luce. She was hard where Magnus was soft and between the two of them, his sister, and Barry, Taako had a passable social life for when he wasn’t at work or at home. 

“Allegedly,” Taako said. 

They had all been new to the city together. Lup and Barry had decided to move, and Taako had said that he wanted to come. Taako said he was tired of peeling potatoes and scrubbing dishes. The couple had obliged him. 

He had piled his three duffle bags into the trunk of Barry’s car, along with Lup’s art supplies and Barry’s suitcases, and they had driven up the interstate, engine rattling, until they reached the outskirts of the city. Then they stopped at a Motel 6. They hadn’t thought things through further than that. 

“I’m glad you’re coming with us,” Lup had said. They were all sharing a single room, that night. There was dust on the dresser and on the side tables, and a bad smell in the air. 

“You sure?” Taako had said. He thought he might be intruding. He remembered being twelve, and playing cards with Barry and Lup in Barry’s room after school. He had been uncomfortable, he remembered, in someone else’s private space. Barry’s childhood bedroom had dark blue walls and paperbacks scattered across the floor. 

“Of course,” Lup had said. 

So they all moved to the city, together. They got an apartment. Taako got a job at MIKE’S. Barry was unemployed until he wasn’t. Lup worked in a gallery five subway stops away from their apartment and brought home leftover sparkling wine that she stole from show openings, and trash-talked the art that neither Barry or Taako had ever seen.

They sold Barry’s car because nobody needed to drive in the city. They used the money for Barry’s graduate school applications, and later, part of his tuition. They used the money for Lup’s canvases. They used the money for Taako’s clothes that he no longer bought on sale. 

Taako got a subway pass and memorized the lines. The A, the B, the C, the alphabet soup and the numbers. He liked knowing the city, though he did not take advantage of it. He often thought that he wasn’t taking advantage of it. The city had art galleries and theaters and bookstores, museums, long boulevards, parks. In the summer, the streets were packed with chattering pedestrians. They always wore sensible shoes and carried packs that made them hunch. They went into all the buildings that Taako forgot to visit. 

Occasionally, Lup and Barry would take him with them when they went out. They went to clubs, sometimes, or to bars. And Taako would talk to strangers and sometimes go home with them, stripping clothing and touching bodies in the two-am glow. He had a lot of interesting conversations which he never would have had back home. But Taako never took them back to the apartment to have those conversations there, because he shared a wall with Lup and Barry.

Some mornings Taako would walk into the living room and he would see his sister and Barry tangled together on the couch. As if they had abruptly fallen asleep on the cusp of fucking or were so enamored with each other that even August’s damp heat could not dissuade them from skin-to-skin contact. Taako would look away, because did not like to think these things about his sister, or about the boy who had been his best friend. 

He thought about moving out, but rent was expensive. He was still tired of peeling potatoes and did not want to return to his hometown.  

Eventually, Magnus called and said he was also moving to the city. Taako started living with Magnus. This was alright. They bought an Xbox and a flatscreen television, both used. But then Magnus had started dating Lucretia, who was from San Francisco, and who moved in two weeks after they had met. The apartment became smaller. But Taako stayed, because he was tired of switching apartments even though he had only done it twice, and because he liked Magnus an awful lot. 

There were enough people in his life. He did not feel the need to find more. But now he could see the shape of his social circle shrinking. That was a selfish thought. Lup was his sister, but he could not believe that anyone could have taken her anywhere she did not want to go. If she had left for real, then there was purpose in her movement. 

After the dishes were in the sink, Taako went to the hall closet to get his shoes and jacket. Lucretia was Japanese and did not hold with shoes in the house. Magnus followed him to the closet. 

“Are we going now?” he asked. He motioned to pick up his own coat and Taako slapped his hand away.

“I’m going,” Taako said. 

“Are you sure?” Magnus said. 

“It’s just a subway ride, dude,” Taako said. “There’s no point in you coming with me; I’m just going to see if Barry knows anything.” 

“It’s only been a day,” Magnus said. “There’s no reason to worry about it. What if I want to come with you?” 

“Who’s worried? I’m not worried,” Taako said, and buttoned the last button at the top of his coat. It had gotten cold, recently. He left, before Magnus could say anything else. 

He texted Barry that he was on his way. He texted Ren that he would be missing work at MIKE’S. He walked down the street and descended into the subway station, the one with the flickering lights that seemed to always be on the verge of going out but never did. 

The subway was on time, which was the strangest thing about the day so far. 

As he sat gingerly in the plastic seat, he thought about a world where he had never memorized the subway lines. He probably knew how to drive in that one. The subway sped past 14th Street, 22nd Street, but he did not realize this because he was underground. Taako decided that the other world was not a better one, and even with his sister missing he would rather be here than elsewhere. He wondered what Lup would think, but there was no point in that. He had texted Lup five times before breakfast, and none of the messages had been answered. 

Barry and Lup’s apartment building was exactly how he remembered it. He hadn’t been back since he moved out. They usually met in public spaces, or in Taako’s living room. Barry buzzed him in promptly. 

“Lup wasn’t with you?” 

“Do you think I would have come here without her, if she was with me?” Taako said. “I told you she wasn’t with me.” 

“I don’t know what you would do,” Barry said. “If she asked you to tell me that she was missing, I think you would.” 

He pinched the flesh in between his eyebrows. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. She didn’t come home. I’m really worried, you know?”

“It’s cool, man,” Taako said. “I get it.” 

“Do you know what happens to women, when they don’t come back? What could have happened to her? Fuck. Sorry,” Barry said. “I’m being an asshole. Come in.” 

The reason Taako knew that Lup was gone was that she had left him a voicemail on his phone in the early hours of the morning. She had said that she was leaving. That she was tired of her life here, and needed a change. She didn’t use those words, but that was the gist of the thing. Then she hung up. There were the sounds of laughter around her, of raucous noise. She had sounded so happy. Taako had realized that Lup so rarely sounded happy — he could tell the shape of her smile from the way she pronounced things. He wondered when she had become unhappy. 

Taako walked into Barry and Lup’s apartment. It had changed, since he left. There were different canvases, and a new couch. The canvases were covered in florid pink flowers and gave off a turpenoid stink. Lup must have been painting at home again. Some of the canvases still had blank spaces of white, where paint still needed to be applied. 

Barry sat on the couch. Taako did not sit down, and instead inspected his sister’s paintings. He remembered that when he moved out, she had been painting bones, mostly. And fruit. 

“She left a post-it note on the table,” Barry said, gesturing. “‘Back soon.’ Why would she leave?” 

“I don’t know,” Taako said, turning away from the paintings. Barry was right. There was a neon note with Lup’s untidy hand scrawled across. 

“You’re her brother.” 

“You’re her fiance!” Taako said indignantly. He was offended by the notion that he would know what Lup was thinking at any moment in time. They were very different people. Just because they were twins and because they were very similar in height and build and facial structure, did not mean they were the same person. They were different genders. They liked different things. Lup had been in a committed relationship since senior year of high school and Taako went home with strangers. 

“What if she doesn’t love me?” Barry moaned, putting his head in his hands. 

“That’s really not the problem right now,” Taako said. He had no sympathy for Barry, who called once a week overstressing over his relationship. It always felt like they were on the verge of breaking up. Taako felt it unfair that he had to listen to his sister’s romance drama from both parties involved. “She’ll be back. Were you guys having problems?”   
“She left her phone here,” Barry said. “That’s a sign. I don’t know? You know how it is.” 

Taako did not know how it was. Barry and Lup’s relationship was alien to him. They had been dating for nearly a decade. Before that, the two of them and Taako had been inseparable. 

“You should probably call your parents and let them know she might be missing,” Barry said. Taako shook his head. 

“They’re not talking to me right now.” 

“Oh. Right,” Barry said. Their adoptive parents had “not been talking to Taako right now” for the past six years. They had strong opinions about what their beautiful twin babies should be doing with their lives. Living in the city and working dead end jobs was was not what they had wanted from Taako and Lup. Lup still talked with them once a month. They thought she would be more amenable to persuasion, and that if they convinced Lup, she would convince Taako, and the two of them would fall back in line. This was true, but Taako did not like to admit it. 

“Hey. Listen. Don’t worry so much,” Taako said. “She’ll probably be back this afternoon, and we’re both going to feel really stupid about this whole thing. I’ll go to the gallery and see if they’ve seen her, alright?” 

“I can take care of that,” Barry said. “Also, are you okay?” 

“What? Yeah, I’m fine,” Taako said. 

“No, seriously,” Barry said. 

“I’m dealing with this, okay? We’ll figure it out. She’ll turn up,” Taako lied. He was in the habit of being kind to Barry, even when Taako was not being nice to him. It was a leftover impulse from when they were young. 

“You can stay here, if you want,” Barry offered. “I'm going to the gallery.” 

Taako shook his head. “There's no point. I'm going to go make some calls. Maybe someone else has seen her — I left my charger at home.” 

“Okay,” Barry said. His phone was a different model from Taako’s. He was the sort of man who used a flip phone. Barry did not bother to tell him to call if he learned anything new. He knew that Taako would. 

Taako picked up the post-it note and inspected it. It was so concise. “Back soon.” He thought about the voicemail that she had left him on the phone, her speech fragmented, doubling back on itself with laughter and sighs. There was no emotion in the note. Just a direct statement. He wondered what he should believe. He folded the note and put it in his pocket. He did not tell Barry about the voicemail. 

“She loves you, okay? She wouldn't just leave,” Taako said, and then, embarrassed, quickly turned to exit the apartment. The air in the stairwell was cleaner. 

He decided that he would walk back home. There were thirty-four blocks between his apartment and Lup’s. It was still cold, but there was sunlight now. Most days, he would be at work at this hour. There was the lunch rush, because MIKE’S was well positioned next to three different office buildings, and had a reputation for good, cheap food. It was strange to have the day to himself. 

He did not spend much time alone. The majority of his life he spent either at his apartment (with Lucretia and Magnus) or at work (Ren, the other cooks). Between these two places, he rode the subway. He took cabs. He walked. There were always other people around. Often he was with Barry and Lup, and on most days, it was very congenial. That, at least, was the same as in his hometown. He had not been good at making friends as a child. 

He texted one-handedly as he walked. Magnus, to ask him if Lup had shown up at the apartment. The owners of the gallery. The owners of the other gallery that Lup’s paintings had been shown at. The bartender that Lup had befriended at the place they often went to. 

He did not watch where he was going, but it was a weekday and too cold for the tourists. 

There was a curious phenomenon that happened when he walked through the city. Every block, which was made of stores, restaurants, nail salons — distinct entities that interlocked and formed the base for glass and brick towers —  became indistinguishable from the next as long as Taako kept moving. But when he stopped, then he would realize that his entire surroundings had changed, and that he no longer recognized where he was. 

He half-expected Lup to be sitting on his door stoop when he walked home, but he knew that she wouldn’t be. 

He thought about listening to the voicemail again, or taking out the note and re-inspecting it. There was nothing more to be learned from either piece of information, though. He was afraid he would accidentally delete the voicemail, or that the wind would blow away the piece of paper. He shoved his hands deeper in his pockets. Here were the facts: Lup had talked about being unhappy. She had told him that she was leaving. She had told Barry that she was going to be back soon. She had left her phone. 

As he crossed the street, Taako decided that there was no way she could have been taken. The signs didn’t add up. She must have left. He was not sure whether she would be back. 

The last time he saw Lup was three days ago. She had come to MIKE’S around four in the afternoon, before the dinner rush. She had been wearing an old green sweater that might have once been Barry’s. Taako did not remember what exactly he had been wearing, only that it was something he had accidentally stolen from someone he slept with and never called back. 

“What’s up?” he had said. 

“Same old,” she had said. She did not seem like she was in bad spirits. A little distracted, but she was easily distractible. It was a trait they both shared. 

“You never come see me at work,” he said. He was pretending to take a smoke break, though he did not smoke, in order to have a moment to talk. The pretense was unnecessary because there were no customers in the dining room. 

“I got bored,” she said. 

“Go bother Barry, if you’re bored,” he had said. “I’m back on shift in five. I’m free after work, if you want to hang?” 

“It’s okay,” she had said. “How’ve you been doing, anyway?” 

“Alright,” he said, because things were alright. They were not good enough to be “okay” and she would have disbelieved him if he had said “good.” He glanced at his watch. “How are you?” 

“Okay,” she said. Taako nodded. 

They had shot the shit for a little while after that, and he had told her to come over after he got off work. But she had her shift in the gallery then, so they ended up calling the whole thing off and rescheduling for the weekend. He had thought nothing of it at the time. 

He paused at the crosswalk. The city looked foreign around him. Taako looked down at his feet, but that didn’t help, because he was wearing new shoes and they were not yet part of how he perceived his self-image. 

The light turned green, and everyone at the crosswalk began to move forward, and Taako moved forward as well. 

If Lup had asked him to leave with her, Taako would have. He wished she had taken her phone with her. They had never lived apart until he had moved out of her and Barry’s apartment. 

**Author's Note:**

> liner notes up later on my tumblr depending on how bored I get at Family Gathering. HMU on tumblr if you want the Extra Cursed version, where taako's name is replaced with justin's. it's a lot. 
> 
> talk taz or writin' or cursed fic w/ me @[anonymousalchemist](http://anonymousalchemist.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
